# 84: SPECIAL (Part II): Why My World Is Poorer Without Planes in the Air — and How Stories Can Change That
Read Part I from yesterday here
Scholars and Scientists
For the last book I wrote about management narratives, I happened to read an interview with the president of an academic association. In that interview, the scholar is asked about her definition of her field. And the interviewer wants to push her to give some explanation that “normal” people from outside the field, even outside academia, can understand. See here how the interviewer tries to push her:
Interviewer: [I]f you were asked to describe American Studies to somebody who was not an academic, what would you say that American Studies is?
Professor: [Laughs.] That’s a really hard question!
Interviewer: I know! That’s why it’s a good question!
Professor: Okay, so, to someone who is not an academic?
Interviewer: Yeah, you know, like you’re talking to someone sitting next to you on an airplane or wherever and you say, “I’m going to the American Studies conference.” An interested but non-expert audience.
Obviously, I am not giving this example to make anyone from management interested in American Studies (especially not in the current state of European-U.S. relations (post-)Trump). I am showing it here because of the plane scene. Of course, the interviewer could also have chosen the example of a train or a bus ride. But no, she tried to push the academic to choose an explanation that you would give someone on a plane. And I would argue, there is a reason behind that which is especially important for the target group of academics for airlines.
Meeting diverse people from outside your immediate work environment is nothing special for scholars traveling the globe. The same applies to the case of business people above. The special thing about academics is that their jobs do not take place in a highly diverse environment and they are not communication-intensive. Scholars are the exact opposite of managers when it comes to personality types. Instead of generalists who do many things at a time on a more or less superficial level, scholars love getting into depth and concentrating on one thing for a long time.
This also means that scholarship is a rather solitary activity for the most part. Now, I hear people interjecting already, especially from the natural sciences. Yes, it is true that there are many disciplines in academia that only work because there is much team work and collaboration. But I am just trying to really point to the crucial differences between managers and scholars here. And it is simply not the case that the average scholar spends eight hours per day in meetings or on the phone, as managers do. Yes, professors talk to students but really, the value creation takes place in a more concentrated and sometimes even self-isolated environment with only a handful of very close staff members.
Still, scholarship is by nature global and this has been the case for decades, similar to globalization in business. Knowledge knows no national boundaries if the content can get communicated to various audiences. Before the internet, this meant that scholars traveled to conferences to lecture. Today, they still do that while at the same time publishing in international journals and talking to international audiences via the internet.
This global scale of knowledge production is not much different from the global sales of products in business. What is different, however, is the value that scholars gain from traveling. And again, I need to point to the interview with the professor above. Scholars are much less used — at least as of today — to be talking to diverse audiences outside the Ivory Tower. This is also why giving a definition of one’s academic field to a “stranger” on a plane poses such a challenge to the president of the academic organization.
International travel therefore, I would argue, creates much more value for academics than is commonly acknowledged. Here are some benefits scholars derive from travel that I identify:
1) Communication & networking: especially to non-academic audiences -> skills
2) Interdisciplinarity: contact with different people and cultures outside one’s own field of study leads to more understanding of what other fields/occupations do -> research and career perspectives
3) Reality check: Scholars live even more in a bubble than people working in industry -> reflection and inspiration
4) Rest: Academics very often are chronically deprived of sleep because academia knows even less of a work-life balance -> body and mind
5) Luxury: Academia is not business and there is less money around — even an economy ticket and a decent hotel in sight are appreciated -> self-worth
This list is a bit more difficult to compile because in the case of scholars, I simply refer to all those who work in universities and research institutions. They all share that knowledge production somehow is their “business.” But they vary considerably according to their fields and disciplinary cultures. The same holds true for different status groups. Most people usually mean “professor” when thinking of university workers. But in fact, the biggest group consists of junior researchers and even graduates who also travel a lot, sometimes even more, to present at conferences or conduct research abroad. Their needs and habits probably differ from older academics because of the difference in work load and professional coping mechanisms. So, the list is really just taken as a starting point to simply realizing how important this target group actually is.
Or is it not? How can it be that academics should be thought of as an important group of flyers if money is obviously something they lack themselves?
Well, in this case, I do have to show numbers. And if you just remember that before Covid, close to 13,000 conventions by associations were held worldwide with an estimated number of close to 5 million participants, it gives you a different perspective (ICCA Statistics Report 2018). And the reason why academics might not even appear in the official statistics of frequent flyers is because they mostly travel on a private budget while, in fact, the purpose of their trip is professional, i.e., related to their academic job (B2B). And this academic job, you might interject, might not be that relevant for society. But that is wrong.
Just remember what happened right after China had somewhat coped with Covid. You saw pictures on the news that showed you international teams of doctors flying to Europe to share their first-hand knowledge. Or think of the German biotech companies now who closely collaborate with pharma giants in the U.S. and who also closely exchange results of ongoing clinical tests with their colleagues, sometimes still in person by flying to Boston or wherever this knowledge is being produced. All of them share on thing: They are scientists and they are the real heroes of the knowledge economy. And knowledge will remain the key resource in the digital age.
In sum, research remains the origin of innovation, even if we tend to overlook it because universities do not communicate in a way that society understands the value or because the path from knowledge to application is simply a long one. It does not matter — all this even stresses the need for personal exchange of individuals on a global scale. And since these people are still not flying in remotely operated drones or sailing on board pollution-free ships a la Thunberg, they rely on passenger planes. Sometimes, this even started long before their university career.
(Exchange) Students
My first flight ever to the U.S. was in the summer of 2000 and I was 17 years old. I flew from Frankfurt to Detroit and then to Las Vegas where I was supposed to spend an entire year as a high school student. With me on the plane were approximately 50 other students from Germany who were starting the same adventure. We would all go to the East Coast first and catch a connection to the various places where our new host families would be waiting for us.
The actual flight time would have been around 14 hours in total, I guess. But the trip ended up lasting a lot longer because there was a thunder storm crossing the U.S. flyover states. So, all the planes heading into this direction were heavily delayed. The announcements first talked about a delay of a couple of hours. It ended up being about six hours, as far as I remember. I did my very best to stay awake. I walked up and down the gates. I checked out every book store and every fast food diner menu in sight. I looked at every announcement board to always keep track of new flight information.
When I finally made it on the plane, I was half unconscious because I was so tired. It was a mixture of excitement, worry, severe fatigue and everything you feel when starting a new adventure that you know will change your life. And you have to remember I spoke school English at the time and everything around me in this New World had been really new to me — the airport, the restaurants, the shops and above all — the people.
So, the only thing I can remember is that I made it on the plane and then I passed out. I must have fallen asleep right after boarding. I think I had a middle seat and the flight time was supposed to be around five hours. I did not pay attention to who was sitting next to me and I would not have been able to start a decent conversation anyways. The only thing that mattered was that I was finally completing the last stage of my journey.
When I opened my eyes again, several hours had passed without me noticing it. I had no idea where I was for a moment. And the next thing I noticed was that I was warm and comfortable. I had a blanked wrapped around my shoulders and the table in front of me was hinged down. On it was the food that had been served while I was asleep. I was surprised and looked to my right. An old lady was sitting there, reading a book. She smiled at me and said: “I thought you might feel more comfortable with the blanket. And I saved you some food. Enjoy.”
It almost moves me tears to write this down now because this was one of my — if not the — first and most memorable intercultural encounter I had with someone from the U.S. I know it sounds quite weird now that we get bombarded with Trump pictures every day. But people who know travel also know that the pictures you see from any country in the world are just a tiny part of the whole story. And this whole story is the more interesting one. And it only starts forming when you meet the people.
I never forgot this story and I could tell it again and again because it is one of the reasons why I feel so comfortable on board of planes. I think, by now, hundreds of small and big stories like this one happened to me on planes around the world. This one was so remarkable because it was so different from what I knew from German people. We Germans tend to be less caring for strangers. And this is not because we do not care in general but because there is more social distance and personal space-keeping — even before Corona this was the case.
Just like me, thousands of students make their way to spend a semester or even a year abroad somewhere in the world. The figures have consecutively risen in the past decades as international mobility increased. By now, I personally have witnessed a trend that students do not use every opportunity to study abroad even if they get the chance to. But I think, this is a German issue of being too “well-off” in many ways and therefore a problem that deserves a story of its own. Still, on a global scale, international mobility on the part of students will probably keep increasing — at last, I hope so. The number of internationally operating education startups is promising.
All of these students start their journey on a plane and there are actually two people traveling. Both tickets, the first and the return ticket both show the same name. But the person boarding the plane on the trip home is usually a different one — someone full of stories, challenging experiences, and grown in his/her personality. If this is the value that the trip itself creates, what is the value that the airline contributes for exchange students as passengers?
1) Safety and care: There are often students who actually fly for the first time when starting a year abroad (especially in the U.S.!). Their parents and the organizations who organize these study years abroad do not let them fly any airline -> humanism
2) Novelty: Even though the students are just on their way to their intercultural learning experience, the trip itself forms part of it -> education
3) Inspiration and orientation: It might sound blunt but people who decide to work for airlines (as pilots, ground staff, flight attendants, managers…) get in touch with the airline for the first time at some point, usually as customers. And these people will be needed again in the future, no matter how long and severe the crisis will persist -> career perspectives
All of these aspects are not minor issues — they are big because this target group is so young. If you change the life of someone in his/her forties or older, that is great. But if you contribute to changing the life of a teenager, you allow that person to even start his/her career with a horizon in mind that is breathtaking and can move mountains. These people are the ones that global corporations increasingly look for.
Intercultural Exchange & Understanding
As I mentioned at the beginning, the intercultural learning that takes place when traveling applies to each and every group I mentioned, as well as to all others who hop on a plane. We know this, but we sometimes forget about the magnitude of this effect. And especially since Covid, I am very much afraid that we wrongfully assume we do not need to fly anywhere anymore because the computer can bring the world to our living room and Zoom or Teams can help us close all the business deals just like before.
Wrong.
I am not saying this is a wrong assumption because I think people do not have the skills to communicate online. They can and most of us are making the experience that it works. But if you read all the things above carefully, I am not talking about business meetings or deals anywhere. I am not even writing about the stuff people do at their destination. I am only writing about the things that happen on the journey to the destination — even on the plane itself. Nothing else matters at the core.
This travel experience forms a huge part of international mobility and it is crucial. Travel is a personal experience — I repeat: personal experience, even if you travel with a group of fellow students or colleagues. Both elements are important. Personal means, you cannot delegate travel to anybody else, no matter how sophisticated or rich you are. You cannot make your avatar jump on a plane. And experience means you cannot simulate it in your head or on the computer. You have to do it. You have to find the right check-in counter, you have to go through security, you have to rush to the right gate, you have to sit there for 8, 10 or even 16 hours or longer. Nobody can replace you.
And only you can tell the story about all this afterwards.
I argue that it is mostly this seemingly unimportant stuff that shapes people who travel. And this is exactly why I tend to ask people about their travel experience because it gives me an indication if they can solve problems, if they are willing to go on new adventures, if they are open-minded and many more things. All this starts with the ticket for the plane and your first step into the airport.
When we talk about globalization and internationalization nowadays, all this sounds so abstract and ‘normal’ to us. But we tend to forget that all this starts with the individual. It is people who make business and it is people who make war. You do not have to be a genius to know that international peace building and political education start right there — with training the minds and hearts of people who turn into decision makers. And as decision makers they have the power to solve the world’s most pressing problems — or not.
Values in Stories
I have almost come to the end of my tale now. I wrote all this with the intention to raise awareness for the fact that the world is much poorer without planes in the air. And I wrote it to give specific starting points of where to start findings solutions to save airlines. You might think that transportation itself is the major value created. And since we are talking about thousands of miles that people travel in planes, it might be difficult to think that other values than mere mobility are at the forefront.
As you can see above, I do think there are other values created for customers that airlines have not even been aware of until know. Or, they are aware of them but see them as minor details of the customer journey but not as major elements of value creation. Maybe this is because my values above are not based on big data or statistical user data — they are simply based on my personal experience and my observations. But I do think there are reasons to take a closer look at these and many others which I have not listed here.
Above all, we live in a period now where people are almost forced to reflect — on their lives and on their careers. And the same applies to companies. Nothing can be taken for granted anymore — not even the most ‘natural’ fact that business people always traveled the world. And this reflection, despite all the financial hardship and personal tragedies that go along with it, is actually a good thing, a starting point for something new.
In business, this means we have to return to the basics. It is like hardcore AGILE in a way — no waste at all, only pure value focus. Yes, it is nice to pay for stuff that nobody really needs because it simply looks nice or you can elevate your personal status. But even this must have value because otherwise, the luxurious fashion industry and other industries would not be thriving right now. Maybe they figured a lot earlier out how much value there is in stuff that has no “rational” purpose at first sight but a lot of human value underneath.
I think, it is time for big companies to explore this hidden value in their products to then find creative ways of how to offer it to customers in a very different way than before. Yes, it will take much creativity to get there, but it is worth a try. After all, the only thing that nobody can steal from a company or a human being is deep and long-standing expertise. Expertise is nothing else but knowledge based on endless learning over many decades. And the big airlines have done this.
This expertise is a treasure that might have gotten out of sight due to all the debates about technology, efficiency, sustainability, etc. All these debates are important but maybe it is time to shift one’s attention to blind spots and lift hidden treasure boxes. Especially in a period in which people realize their own vulnerability and the transience of the status quo, they are open to embracing things that make their life more enjoyable and memorable. And I am sure, airlines can contribute to this if they start looking more closely into the stories their customers have to tell.
Reflection Questions
1) Did you spend time abroad as a student? Why/not?
2) Do you consider yourself a “conscious” traveler, meaning that you try to use every travel opportunity (also job-relate) to gain cultural knowledge?
3) How important is storytelling to you personally — either as a listener or as a storyteller yourself?